Redbridge Independents defy Labour minister Wes Streeting's 'sectarian' accusation
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Imran Mulla
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Mon, 04/27/2026 - 14:29
Leader of Corbyn-endorsed bloc, Vaseem Ahmed, criticises health secretary for branding the party 'sectarian'
Jeremy Corbyn campaigns with Vaseem Ahmed and the Redbridge Independents in April ahead of the local elections on 7 May. (Redbridge Independents)
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The British health secretary has raised the alarm on what he calls “sectarian politics” in the east London borough of Redbridge.
Wes Streeting’s seat is in Redbridge, the Labour stronghold where the governing party faces a major challenge in the 7 May local elections from the Redbridge Independents, a local party backed by the Jeremy Corbyn-led Your Party.
Middle East Eye reported last month that Streeting - widely tipped as a favourite to be prime minister if Keir Starmer resigns or is deposed - sent a letter to residents of his seat accusing the Redbridge Independents of being "a divisive political party that aims to only represent some of us, more focused on foreign conflicts than on fixing potholes".
Then late last week Streeting told The Times: “We’re voting for Redbridge council, not the UN Security Council. Who you choose to run your local council matters and the Redbridge Independents represent a divisive brand of sectarian politics.”
But is this characterisation of the independents accurate?
MEE spoke to the leader of the Redbridge Independents, Vaseem Ahmed, who runs a recruitment firm and has been involved in local community politics for years.
He explained that the Redbridge Independent party emerged out of a community action group set up ahead of the May 2024 local elections.
Britain's Health Secretary Wes Streeting leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on 14 October 2025 (AFP)
A scan of the party’s campaign literature and social media output suggests it is highly focused on tackling local issues and representing the local community.
But this is fused with a general discontent with the political establishment and the Labour government, as well as opposition to Labour’s foreign policy.
“The biggest challenge in Redbridge right now is the cost of living,” Ahmed told MEE. “Our manifesto is about that, and about managing priorities for the council budget.
“Thirdly, it’s about engagement with local residents who don’t seem to have a voice.
“We’re going to have forums where residents can easily engage with the leader of the council, with the councillors themselves, and they can speak to a person rather than an answerphone or an email that never gets responded to.”
Divestment from Israel-linked companies
Ahmed said “95 percent” of the party’s platform is focused on local issues. A glance at the 20-page manifesto on its website confirms that.
“When it comes to Gaza,” Ahmed explained, “we’re realistic and Redbridge Council is not going to solve the problem in the Middle East.”
However, he said, Israel’s war on Gaza and British cooperation with Israel is relevant to the council on certain issues, like divesting its pension fund from companies complicit in Israel's violations of international law.
'It’s such an Islamophobic trope that somehow, if you have Muslims who are in politics, that they're only going to be worried about fellow Muslims and nobody else'
- Vaseem Ahmed, Redbridge Independents
In January, the Labour government's Communities Secretary Steve Reed warned Labour-administered councils that they could be sued for boycotting Israeli businesses.
Redbridge has 22 wards and around 300,000 residents. It is highly ethnically diverse, with more than 47 percent of the population identifying as Asian or Asian British, and a large Muslim population of over 30 percent.
The borough’s north, which is wealthier, has historically voted Conservative, but 54 out of Redbridge’s 63 councillors are currently Labour.
Ahmed said the Redbridge Independent candidates are from diverse professional backgrounds: “Our party’s got CEOs, entrepreneurs, magistrates, lawyers, doctors, business people, people with experience in education, in finance, who would easily be able to hit the ground running.”
He added that the party was making a concerted effort to reach out to all sections of the local community and that its candidates were ethnically diverse.
The local Labour Party has been mired in scandal. Jas Athwal, a Labour MP for Ilford South in the borough, resigned as a councillor in 2025 after the BBC uncovered ant infestations and black mould in several rental properties that he owned.
His resignation triggered a by-election - which Redbridge Independent candidate Noor Jahan Begum, a local magistrate, won.
Redbridge Independents leader Vaseem Ahmed (R) and other party campaigners in Redbridge ahead of the May elections. (Redbridge Independents)
Ahmed told MEE: “Ordinary people like ourselves are rooted in the community. We live here, we work here, we raise our families here, and we just want our voices to be represented. Right now, we just don't feel we have that.”
He described Streeting’s attacks as evidence that Labour is “desperate”.
“It’s such an Islamophobic trope that somehow, if you have Muslims who are in politics, that they're only going to be worried about fellow Muslims and nobody else.
“Whereas we live in a diverse community and we represent everybody. You know, if you get elected, you're not going to focus on one section of the community.”
Ahmed said that he was previously on the panel of local mosque committees but left when he entered local politics because “I don’t want there ever to be a conflict of interest.
"I've got so many contacts there," he added. "I could walk into those mosques and just stand there with a mic and say, vote independent.
"But I won't do that because they're charities and I don't want to put them at risk. I'll never do that, because they do so much other good work outside of politics."
Your Party endorsement
“For years [Labour] have treated this borough as their personal fiefdom,” one Redbridge Independents campaign video says.
The party’s manifesto declares that local government must return to “first principles", including “pride in every neighbourhood”, “strong communities and shared belonging” and “opportunity for every child and young person”.
It features photos of Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who now leads Your Party, campaigning with the party.
What I learned at the inaugural Your Party Conference
Read More »
“Your Party were involved in a lot of the conversations early on,” Ahmed explained.
But then the party became mired in factional conflict, which the Redbridge Independents watched from afar.
“By the time they launched properly as a party, the horse had already bolted from the barn as far as these elections are concerned,” Ahmed said.
“By then we were already canvassing and we were establishing our name in the local community. So right now we have this kind of relationship with Your Party where they've endorsed us but we retain our independence here.”
He added: “If in the long term or medium term there's some sort of other type of alignment with Your Party, I don't know. But right now our philosophy is that we are unlike other parties here in Redbridge. Whether it's Greens or Lib Dems or Tories or Labour, they all have to answer to the bosses [nationally].
“We love the fact that we're independent and that we can make our own choices for the benefit of the residents of Redbridge.”
With Labour facing a challenge on all fronts - from Reform UK and the Conservatives on the right, and from the Redbridge Independents and the Green Party on the left - the council could be left under no overall control after election night.
That would make the borough one of Labour’s disaster stories on election night.
All candidates in the Redbridge election are listed here.
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